Frustrated, I exclaimed to God, "if this is getting to know you, I won't know you." Ten years later the Lord would answer my prayer. After becoming a born again Christian I learned that what I sought to gain through sin could only be found in the resurrected life of Jesus Christ. Now, I desire to share the finished work of Christ and His life in the believer with all who seek to find rest from the impossible burdens of life and religion.
Within the Christian Community, the word tolerance is often looked at as a four-letter word. Many believe that to say they are tolerant is another way of saying that they are okay with sin. But, is there a way in which a Christian can be tolerant and still be loyal to the truth of God's word?
Key Verse:
1 Corinthians 13:4-5
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs."
Resources:
Tolerant
96toLife: Search results for Tolerant https://share.google/qHpLczQl3MoFc67KM
Hebrews 11:35-4035 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. 39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
Does the death of Jesus promise that our life on earth will not be hellish?
What do the other believers listed in the Hall of faith tell us about suffering?
Resources:
Martyrdom:
livinggodministries.net/living_god_ministries/radio_archive/audio_files/hebrews_51_ch12_1_martyrdom.mp3 https://share.google/TDuGhTo0ZaL3MlggM
Hebrews 11 is often celebrated as the "Hall of Faith," a spiritual tribute to biblical heroes who lived by trust in God. But what if the real thread tying their stories together isn’t just faith, but something else. In this video, I discuss eight biblical heroes mentioned in this chapter who were commended for their faith and the hidden truth that they all share.
How does God refer to those who have placed faith in Jesus Christ?
“...continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:12–13 NIV)
Does this passage make our salvation conditional on the work we do for God?
"For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."
What does it mean to be rescued from the darkness?
Can you describe the kingdom of the Son?
Resources:
Jesus, Prophet, Priest and King https://share.google/MkVLAAD9hh4RV4ZFl
As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone."£
2 Corinthians 5:21
God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God
If only God is good, is Jesus God?
What does being good have to do with righteousness?
1 John 3:1-3"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure."
What is our hope as Christians dependent on?
If the things we can see are only temporary, why do we spend so much time focusing on them?
Resources:
The Person is the Way
livinggodministries.net/living_god_ministries/radio_archive/audio_files/gospel_of_john_075_14_1_6_the_person_is_the_way_ext.mp3
"Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."
Romans 7:24-25
"What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
Why is the Gospel called the message of truth?
What is the inheritance that the Holy Spirit guarantees?
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.8 Love never fails.
2 Timothy 3:1-8
3 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that! 6 They are the kind who work their way into people's homes and win the confidence of vulnerable women who are burdened with the guilt of sin and controlled by various desires. 7 (Such women are forever following new teachings, but they are never able to understand the truth.) 8 These teachers oppose the truth just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses.
They have depraved minds and a counterfeit faith.
What is the opposite of the agape love of God?
How do the fruits of love differ from the fruits of pride?
